Under the revision, young people who are registered as dependents of the health insurance subscribers or are family members of a household will also be included. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will expand providing free medical examinations to more than 7 million people in their 20s and 30s next year, the government said Wednesday.
According to a revision to the relevant health law that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, some 7.2 million people who had been in the “blind spot” of the national health insurance system will benefit from the change, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In South Korea, the National Health Insurance Service provides support for employed and self-employed people to get medical checkups at hospitals periodically. However, only those registered as a “householder” in their 20s and 30s have so far been able to benefit from this arrangement.
Under the revision, young people who are registered as dependents of the health insurance subscribers or are family members of a household will also be included.
The revision, meanwhile, requires people in their 20s and 30s to receive checkups for depression, as the illness has been cited as the No. 1 cause behind young adults committing suicide.
(Yonhap)
